Brodhead native co-founds One Gift, One Child in Haiti

By Robin Marsden, Correspondent –

A war had just ended in Haiti in Jan. 2005. Several people dropped out of the mission trip headed there because of the unrest. Natalie Charlotin, formerly Natalie Joyce, 2004 graduate of Brodhead High, was not one of these people. She felt a pull to go and she did, despite any reservations.

Charlotin visited an orphanage there and saw a little girl with disabilities lying in a bed, curled up in a ball, malnourished and untouched. Charlotin was not allowed to hold her as she was told that children with disabilities are considered a curse in Haiti.

The team leader of the mission trip told her that he grew up in this orphanage. The leaders of the orphanage stole money that was for food for the children. The children went days without eating.

Pick up the Sept. 19th print edition for full story….